Described herein are a cover system for opening and closing a side of a housing which accommodates an imaging device and an optical unit for a head-up display, and a housing which accommodates an imaging device and an optical unit for a head-up display and including the cover system.
In order to be able to display information in the form of text, graphics, virtual images etc. to drivers of motor vehicles in a convenient manner that provides as little distraction from the road as possible and without any or significant adjustment of the viewing distance for the eyes (accommodation), it has been known for some time to provide one or more head-up displays in motor vehicles.
As is known, in head-up displays, light from an imaging device, for instance on the basis of a liquid crystal display, is projected onto a light-transmissive reflective surface. The reflective surface, which can be, for example, a part of the windshield of a motor vehicle or an optionally kinematically retractable and extendable “combiner plate”, as it is known, is often arranged, in motor vehicles, behind the steering wheel of the motor vehicle in the direction of the front of the vehicle.
In order to realize as little installation space as possible, in head-up displays, an optical unit is often provided, with which the beam path of the light emitted by the imaging device can be deflected or “bent” in the direction of the reflective surface. Such head-up displays are of interest especially for apparatuses, for instance motor vehicles, in which only very little installation space is available.
In motor vehicles, the integration of the imaging device, which can optionally have a separate light source, and an optical unit represents a particular challenge.
Specifically, not only is it desirable to integrate the elements of a head-up display entirely in the interior of the instrument panel or dashboard of a motor vehicle, it is also desirable to provide a “closure system”, with which, in the switched-off state of the head-up display, the imaging device and the optical unit can be largely closed off from the environment, in order to keep soiling of these devices as low as possible. In this case, it is desirable for such a closure system, in the closed state, also to terminate as flush as possible with the surfaces surrounding the closure system.
For the problems outlined above, solutions are known from the related art. However, these are very complicated with regard to the kinematics, require a relatively large amount of installation space, which is often simply not available in the region of the instrument panel or dashboard of a motor vehicle, or do not allow a “bent” beam path of the light.
Thus, for instance, U.S. Patent Application Publication 2008/0285138 A1 describes a display apparatus for a motor vehicle, which has a light source for generating displayable information and an at least partially transparent, retractable plate which reflects the information in the direction of a user of the motor vehicle, wherein the plate is fastened to a movable holder which is movable between a rest position and at least one display position, and wherein the plate is in a retracted state when the movable holder is in the rest position and the plate is in an extended state when the movable holder is in a display position. A housing having two flaps can be provided, with which the movable holder, the plate and the light source are completely enclosed when the plate is in the retracted state.